Billy Smith may not be a flashy freak like teammates Mark Nawaqanitawase and Robert Toia, but the Roosters centre is satisfied with being \u201cboring\u201d if it can take his side to the grand final. <\/p>\n
Smith, 26, has endured a wretched run of injuries throughout his career which started in 2019 when the Roosters won the second of their consecutive grand finals.<\/p>\n
Superstars Latrell Mitchell and Joseph Manu were the centres in the team that won the premiership that year, while Nawaqanitawase and Toia have formed a potent partnership on the right edge where behind-the-back flick passes are the norm.<\/p>\n
And while Smith can turn it on when he needs to, the local junior is happy to go under the radar doing the tough stuff that doesn\u2019t make the highlight reels. <\/p>\n
\u201cI know the player I am. I\u2019m not a flashy freak like \u2018Marky\u2019 or \u2018Bobby\u2019 (Toia) or any of that, but I pride myself on the work I do out of the back field,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen given the opportunity to defend, I take great pride in that, and I know the club values it. It might not be the headline in the papers, but I know it means a lot to the club, and it means a lot to me. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to continue being me, continue doing my job, and if that means being boring and carrying it 15 times out of the back field and defending well, then that\u2019s my role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith has kept his spot at left centre for Friday\u2019s preliminary final against the Dolphins even though most pundits assumed Hugo Savala would shift there with Sam Walker back in the side. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was without a doubt. Billy\u2019s our left centre. He always has been,\u201d coach Trent Robinson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I know there\u2019s been some discussion, but there hasn\u2019t been discussion inside these walls around that. We know the value that Hugo can play, and as I said he will do that, but Billy\u2019s our definite left centre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith ran for 138 metres and broke six tackles in last week\u2019s win over the Sharks, but it was his sublime stop on Braydon Trindall with 20 minutes to go that won his side the game.<\/p>\n
Cronulla had dominated possession and would have closed to within eight points, only for Smith to dislodge the ball as Trindall went to score. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just doing whatever it takes,\u201d he said, with Smith to go up against Dolphins star Jack Bostock. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think this time of year, if you\u2019re to win big football games like finals, preliminary finals, grand finals, you have to come up with those sort of plays, and I was glad I could put myself in the position to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never stop working and I\u2019ll never stop moving until the play stops. I was fortunate to put myself in the position to just dislodge the ball there. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think just being really clear on who you are as a person and as a footy player (helps with my style of play). <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m getting a little bit older now, so I\u2019ve figured out who I am as a player. I\u2019m a down-and-out centre, and if I need to step up in attack and do a flick pass or do something needed, I know I can do that. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m also a hardworking centre who\u2019s going to work really hard in defence and attack, try to outwork my opposite number, and win the effort area battle. I think that\u2019s served me pretty well. <\/p>\n
\u201cI stand up if I need to deliver in a moment, but I don\u2019t search for it or go out of my way to create it. I do what\u2019s within the system and the team, and I try to be me as best as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Smith may not be a flashy freak like teammates Mark Nawaqanitawase and Robert Toia, but the Roosters…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":902718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[470547,470519,461488,390985,470522,470544,292270,378408,166114,432545,470521,470555,470553,452335,470533,380489,376730,383301,381856,379284,470542,456168,25653,64,63,464390,470536,92810,4442,35200,22390,270533,68839,470554,5543,162,470525,466688,16308,39598,97428,47999,470524,379545,377460,469766,470546,470548,75716,11402,12979,13307,439754,470526,470520,386826,470551,459218,41154,403228,761,762,470532,43961,158,470523,470518,38633,312343,10315,122788,74197,3206,9120,470537,418004,4478,5400,1042,470543,13477,470538,85,470552,436119,470545,377205,401943,382205,54179,470534,470528,470527,436177,470550,470540,470535,380430,407529,400061,388231,380979,380487,390837,470531,174850,470539,449673,87397,386778,103578,315971,470529,390780,381772,470541,470549,378871,461836,464413,470530,4737,451954,1547],"class_list":["post-902717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-boring-label","tag-s-nrl-preliminary-final","tag-s-preliminary-final","tag-s-win","tag-138-metres","tag-15-times","tag-20-minutes","tag-378408","tag-166114","tag-a-doubt","tag-a-down-and-out-centre","tag-a-flashy-freak","tag-a-flick-pass","tag-a-footy-player","tag-a-hardworking-centre","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-lot","tag-a-moment","tag-a-person","tag-a-player","tag-a-potent-partnership","tag-a-wretched-run","tag-attack","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-behind-the-back-flick-passes","tag-big-football-games","tag-billy","tag-billy-smith","tag-bobby","tag-boring","tag-braydon-trindall","tag-coach-trent-robinson","tag-defence-and-attack","tag-discussion","tag-dolphins","tag-dolphins-star-jack-bostock","tag-eight-points","tag-finals","tag-friday","tag-grand-final-spot","tag-grand-finals","tag-great-pride","tag-his-career","tag-his-side","tag-his-spot","tag-his-sublime-stop","tag-his-unflashy-defensive-style","tag-hugo","tag-hugo-savala","tag-injuries","tag-last-week","tag-left-centre","tag-marky","tag-most-pundits","tag-my-job","tag-my-opposite-number","tag-my-role","tag-my-style","tag-my-way","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nawaqanitawase-and-toia","tag-newswire-sport","tag-nrl","tag-our-definite-left-centre","tag-our-left-centre","tag-play","tag-plays","tag-positions","tag-possession","tag-preliminary-finals","tag-role","tag-roosters","tag-roosters-centre-billy-smith","tag-roosters-star","tag-sam-walker","tag-score","tag-sharks","tag-six-tackles","tag-smith","tag-some-discussion","tag-sports","tag-teammates-mark-nawaqanitawase-and-robert-toia","tag-that-year","tag-the-back-field","tag-the-ball","tag-the-centres","tag-the-club","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-effort-area-battle","tag-the-game-cronulla","tag-the-grand","tag-the-headline","tag-the-highlight-reels","tag-the-local-junior","tag-the-norm-and","tag-the-opportunity","tag-the-papers","tag-the-play","tag-the-player","tag-the-position","tag-the-premiership","tag-the-radar","tag-the-right-edge","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-roosters-centre","tag-the-second","tag-the-sharks","tag-the-side","tag-the-system","tag-the-team","tag-the-tough-stuff","tag-the-value","tag-the-work","tag-their-consecutive-grand-finals-superstars-latrell-mitchell-and-joseph-manu","tag-these-walls","tag-this-time","tag-those-sort","tag-toia","tag-tough-role","tag-trent-robinson","tag-trindall","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}